Fluid coupling



Oct. 27, 1959 c, VAN D LELY r 2,909,943

FLUID COUPLING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 24, 1956 w. a w m PF a 3 S. 43 m 4 Mn 2 H 1 J dl 0.. .fillx 2 7 Q a & s 8 D M.- a .4 a E F so 33 I ua Filed Jan. 24, 1956 1959 c. VAN DER LELY ETAL 2,909,943

FLUID COUPLING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 6? re 76 a? 75 77 74 g 77 68 as as U 73H E 3 a 78 I 7 72 t i 64 73 68 as U as 65 as 67 6 n 66 Oct. 27, 1959Filed Jan. 24, 1956 C. VAN DER LELY ETAL FLUID COUPLING 3 Sheets-Sheet 3United States Patent FLUID COUPLING Cornelis' van der Lely and Ary vander Lely, Maasland,

Netherlands; said Ary van der Lely assignor to said Cornelis van derLely Application January 24, 1956, Serial No. 561,083

3 Claims. (Cl. 74-688) The invention relates to a device fortransmitting torque from a rotatable shaft to another shaft, duringwhich transmission a circulating fluid exerts a braking force on oneshaft and a driving force on the other shaft. In known devices of thiskind both shafts and the casing of the device carry concentric bladesalong which flows a liquid stream which exerts over said blades thedriving force and the braking force. For enabling the attainment of alarge driving force when the driving shaft has a low speed, the bladesof one of the rims are often adjustable.

It is an object of the invention to replace the blades by other flowdiverting members owing to which new possibilities are attained foradapting the driving force to various circumstances. According to theinvention, the device is such that at least the force on one of saidshafts or a force on the casing of the device is effected at leastpartially by means of rotating flow affecting members.

Further details will be hereinafter more fully described with referenceto the accompanying drawing in which some preferred embodiments of theinvention have been illustrated by way of example and in which:

Fig. 1 shows an axial sectional view through a first embodiment of theinvention,

Fig. 2 shows a sectional view of the same embodiment perpendicular tothe shaft according to line IIII in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 shows, on a larger scale, a view of a variant of a detail of theconstruction of Figs. 1 and 2 concerning the adjustment of guidemembers,

Fig. 4 represents an axial sectional view through another embodiment ofthe invention,

Fig. 5 shows a view of a part of the device according to Fig. 4, seen inthe direction of arrow V,

Fig. 6 represents an axial sectional view through a third embodiment ofthe invention,

Fig. 7 shows, on a larger scale, a sectional view of a part of theconstruction of Fig. 6 according to the line VIIVII.

According to Fig. 1 there are provided a driving shaft 1 and a drivenshaft 2 which are in alignment and are situated in bearings 3 and 4respectively supported in covers 5 and 6 of a casing 7. The covers 5 and6 are connected in fluid tight manner to the casing 7, and a fluidpacking 8 is mounted between the shaft 1 and the cover 5 as well asbetween the shaft 2 and the cover 6. A blade wheel having a hub 11 andblades 12 is mounted on the shaft 1 by means of a cotter 9. A disc 15having a hub 16 is mounted on an attenuated end 13 of the shaft by meansof a cotter 14, said disc being provided with an externally toothed rim17 and an internally toothed rim 18. The hub 16 is enclosed between thethick part of the shaft 1 and nuts 19 on a projection 20 of the end 13,said projection being provided with a thread.

Further, a conical disc 22 is secured on an attenuated 7-; members.

2 part 21 of the shaft 2 by means of a cotter 23 and nuts 24.

A ring 25 is attached to the disc 22 and carries ten bearings 26 forspindles 27 parallel to the shafts 1 and 2. Directly beneath bearings26, each of the spindles 27 carries a toothed wheel 28 engaging thetoothed rim 18 of the disc 15. The free upper end of each spindle. 27carries a member 30 which is substantially circular and which is fixedlyattached thereto, and a substantially triangular body 31 carrying twoarms 32 and 33 which hinge on spindle 27 jointly with'the body 31.

The blades 12 of the centrifugal wheel 10 are located in a ductconstituted by the centrifugal wheel 10 whichduct continues into a duct35 in the casing 7. The duct is directed downwards near the edge 37 ofthe cover 5 and constitutes an annular duct 38 directed to the insidenear the external edge 39 of the cover 6. In the duct 38, there arepartitions 36 which are principally intendedto link the walls of theduct 38 to one another.

The duct for the fluid proceeds further between a wall 40 forming anintegral part of the casing 7 and the ring 25 followed by a ring 41 anda disc 42 carrying said ring 41 with inconsiderable play. The disc 42 islinked with the wall 40 by means of flow guide members 43 and thus is inthe position of rest when the casing 7 is in its position of rest, whichis normally the case. A hearing 44 for the shaft 1 is provided in thedisc 42 near the end 13. The fluid duct bends upwards near the shaft 1and constitutes an annular duct 45, which is limited by the shaft 1 anda wall 46 fixedly attached to the wall 40 and the duct opens into anannular axial inlet opening 47 of the centrifugal wheel 10.

Ten bearings 48 for the upper ends of spindles 4 9, which are parallelto the shafts 1 and 2, are mounted in the wall 40, bearings 50 for saidspindles being provided in the disc 42. Between the bearings 48 and 50,each spindle 49 carries a cylindrical member 51 fixedly attached on saidspindle 49, which member 51 is located in the fluid duct describedabove. A toothed wheel 52 is fixedly mounted on the lower end of eachspindle 49 and engages the toothed rim 17.

The device works as follows. The driving shaft 1 is rotated in thedirection of the arrow A by a motor, e.g. by a combustion motor (notshown). The casing 7 always stands still and it is assumed thatinitially the shaft 2, which can be coupled, for example, to the drivenwheels of a vehicle, is in its position of rest and has to be set inmotion by means of the shaft 1. At first, the shaft 2 and the disc 22are in their position of rest, whereas the disc 42 is always in itsposition of rest, so that the rims 18 and 17 cause the toothed wheels 28and 52 situated on the spindles 27 and 49 to rotate in the direction,

indicated by the arrows B and C, respectively, owing to which thecylinders 30 and 51 also rotate according to the arrows B and C,respectively.

The centrifugal wheel 10 causes a fluid stream to come into existence,the fluid streaming in the direction of the arrow D from the shaft 1.The stream is led around through the ducts 35 and 38, so that it flowsto the shaft 1 in the vicinity of the cylinders 30. The cylinders formflow affecting members working in accordance with the Magnus principle,see Hydraulics and the Mechanics of Fluids, E. H. Lewitt, 9th edition,London, Pitman and Sons, page 609, so that the stream which isdirectedsubstantially radially prior, to encountering before the members 30 hasthe direction of the arrows E following said The members 51 modify thedirection of the stream again, so that when the stream has passed themembers 51 it is directed radially to the inside again. The fluid flowsagain to the centrifugal wheel 10 through the duct 45.

Every diversion of the stream is attended by a consider- Patented Oct.27, 1959 3 able force exerted over the associated flow affecting orguide member so that a considerable force is exerted on the disc 22,which force tends to rotate the shaft 2 in the direction of the arrow A.An opposite force is exerted on the casing 7. The driving force is,however, much greater than the braking force to which the centrifuga]wheel 10 is subject.

When the shaft '2 is set in motion and has attained a velocity of, forexample, one tenth of the velocity of the axle 1, the velocity ofrotation of the cylindrical members 30 is reduced by 10%, owing to whichthe driving force decreases accordingly. In the first as well as in thesecond case, the device has only small losses which means in the firstcase that the shaft 1 is almost without load. The efi'iciency is highfor intermediate cases too.

The cylindrical members 30 are followed by flow guide members31, whichcan freely adjust themselves conformably to the stream. The flow guidemembers 43 situated behind the cylindrical members 51 on the other handare fixedly mounted. However, said flow guide members can also beself-adjustable. If an optimum position for certain -flow guide members,e.g. the members 31, is expected, but this position is not theoreticallydeterminable, a ring 53 can 'be'used (see Fig. 3) in which curved slots54 are provided; pins 55 extending through aper tures in the arms 33 andthrough the slots 54 can be used for adjusting the position of themembers 31 until the most favorable position has been found.

The force exerted over a cylinder rotating across a stream equals thepropelling pressure of the stream multipliedfby the surface of the axialsection of the cylinder and a coefficient of force which depends, whenthe cylinder has a smooth surface, only on the proportion of thecircumferential velocity of the cylinder to the velocity of the streamat a distance of the cylinder. fields of said proportion, thecoeflicient of force can be increased by measures, among other thingsapplied to the surface of the cylinder. For instance, ribs can beprovided on the cylinder or the surface can be formed by blades wherebyfluid can stream through the clefts formed between the blades. Therewill next be described a case in which fluid sucked sidewards by thebody, flows to the outside through such clefts.

According to Fig. 4 a driving shaft 60 is journalled in a casing 62 bymeans of a bearing 61. Above the bearing 61, the upper end of the shaft60 carries a centrifugal wheel 63 and, above wheel 63 a conical toothedwheel 64, all of which members move with the shaft 60.

The centrifugal wheel 63 receives fluid flowing in axial directiontowards it and leaving via an annular duct 65 defined by the casing 62.The fluid displaced radially to the outside by means of the centrifugalwheel 63 through another annular duct 66 defined by the casing 62,;isled to an annular duct 67 in the edge 63 of a disc 69. The disc 69 isfixedly mounted on the driven shaft 70 situated coaxially with the shaft60 and carries six pairs of bearings 70A in which six spindles 71 arearranged, the axes of which intersect the shaft 70. Each spindle 71carries between two bearings 70A a conical toothed wheel 72 engaging theconical toothed wheel 64, and the end of each spindle, which end isdirected away from the shaft 70, carries a blade wheel 73 (see also Fig.the blades 74 of which cause the wheel to work as a centrifugal pumpwith the blade wheel rotating in the direction of the arrow F. The fluidflowing through the duct 67 into which the external edge of each bladewheel 73 extends flows jointly with the fluid supplied by the bladewheel 73 into a duct 75 constituted by a cover 76 of the casing 62.Through this duct in which guide blades 77 are situated, the fluid isled back to the duct 65 in the casing 62. The fluid streams along theinlet openings 78 of the blade wheels 73 and a part of the fluid thuscan be sucked away by the working of said blade wheels, whereas thegreater part of the fluid flows through the duct 65 towards thecentrifugal wheel 63. The driven In definite 0 4 shaft 70 is rotatablysupported in bearings 79 which are arranged in the cover 75.

The working of the device is as follows. When the shaft 60 rotates inthe direction G, the toothed wheel 64 is rotated with it and, assumingthat the shaft 70 does not move, said toothed wheel 64 drives thetoothed wheels 72 in such a way that the blade wheels 73 will rotate inthe direction F (Fig. 5). In this case, the blades 74 incline rearwardlyand they direct fluid, entering axially through the apertures 78,radially to the outside into the duct 67. At the same time, thecentrifugal wheel 63 urges fluid through the duct '67, which fluidexerts considerable lateral forces over the blade wheels 73 working asrotors in accordance with the Magnus principle, so that a force willcome into existence which tends to rotate the shaft 70 in the directionG. When the shaft 70 begins to move, the relative velocity between thetoothed wheel 64 and the disc 69 will decrease, due to which thevelocity of rotation of the blade wheels 73 decreases along with thedriving force on the shaft 70.

The fluid leaving the duct 67 is led back through the duct 75 and theduct 65 to the centrifugal wheel 63. A small part flows, however,through the apertures 78 axially into the blade wheels 73. The effect ofthe construction of the flow affecting members 73, comprisingcircumferential blades between which fluid flows to the outside,consists in that, in definite fields of working in which the value ofthe coefiicient of force otherwise would become low (and sometimes eveninadmissibly low), said coefficient of force preserves a high or atleast an admissible value.

The coupling according to Fig. 6 is composed of a casing 80 comprisingtwo covers 81 and 82, the driving shaft 83 being supported in a bearing84 in the cover 81 and in a bearing 85 in. the casing 80, while thedriven shaft 86 rotates in a bearing 87 in the cover =82. In the casing80, the fluid can circulate in an annular space 88 filled with fluid butnot participating in the working of the device in an active way, thewall 89 of said space 88 forming for the greater part an integralportion of the casing 80. The fluid circulating in the space 88 flowsthrough a duct provided with blades 90 and arranged in a centrifugalwheel 91 fixedly attached on the shaft 83. Further, the fluid flowsthrough a duct 92 substantially composed of a casing 80, in which duct92 partitions 93 are provided for linking the walls, and through a duct94 in which guide means 95 are arranged. The ducts 92 and 94 merge intoone another and lead the fluid back "to the mlet opening 96 of thecentrifugal wheel 91.

The shaft 86 carries a disc 97 which is fixedly attached to said shaft,in which disc 97 six supports 89 are arranged for six spindles 99 inparallel to the shaft 86, each of said spindles carrying at a projectingfree extremity a flow affecting member 100. Each member 100 consists ofa disc 101 fixedly attached to the spindle 99 and a disc 103 connectedto said disc 101 by means of blades 102 (see Fig. 7). Said membersextend through an annular groove in the lower side of the casing 80. Anannular plate 104 mounted on the disc 97 blocks up the annular groovewiththe required play.

The device works as follows. When the shaft 83 rotates the centrifugalwheel 91 gives rise to a fluid stream which flows back through the ducts92 and 94 to the centrifugal wheel along (and partially through) theflow affecting members 100. The position and the shape of the blades aresuch that if the member 100 is in a fluid stream they will rotate in thedirection of the arrow H in Fig. 7, by which the member 100 in questionwill begin to work as a rotor in accordance with the Magnus principle.As a result, a driving force is exerted over the shaft 36.

lt'will be obvious that it is not necessary to cause the fluid streamcaused by the centrifugal wheel 91 to drive the member 100, but that therotation can be obtained by means of a separate fluid stream driving amember mounted separately on the axle 99. It will be possible to cause adriving force on the shaft 86, said driving force depending on thedifference of the velocity between the shafts 83 and 86 or to controlthe device in such a way that if the shaft 86 stands still the forcewill be greatest.

What we claim is:

l. A transmission device comprising a rotated driving shaft, a drivenshaft, a plurality of rotors, means rotatably mounting said rotors onsaid driven shaft at locations spaced radially from the axis of thelatter, fluid displacing means operated in response to rotation of saiddriving shaft, means for rotating said rotors, guide means receivingfluid from said fluid displacing means and directing streams of fluidagainst said rotors to produce forces, by reason of the Magnus effect,which tend to rotate said driven shaft, and a guide member for at leastone of said rotors disposed at the side of and angularly movable aboutthe axis of rotation of the related rotor which is downstream withrespect to the stream of fluid directed against the latter.

2. A transmission device comprising a rotated driving shaft, a drivenshaft, a plurality of rotors, means rotatably mounting said rotors onsaid driven shaft at locations spaced radially from the axis of thelatter, fluid displacing means operated in response to rotation of saiddriving shaft, means for rotating said rotors, guide means receivingfluid from said fluid displacing means and directing streams of fluidagainst said rotors to produce forces, by reason of the Magnus effect,which tend to rotate said driven shaft, a casing into which said drivingand driven shafts extend and within which said rotors, fluid displacingmeans, means for rotating the rotors and guide means are all disposed,additional guide means within said casing adjacent the path of rotationof said rotors with said driven shaft and adapted to direct said streamsof fluid after the latter have passed said rotors, said additional guidemeans including second rotors rotatably mounted within said casing withaxes parallel to the axis of the first mentioned rotors, and meansdriven by rotation of said driving shaft to rotate said second ro- 6tors in the direction counter to the rotation of said first rotors.

3. A transmission device comprising a casing, co-axial driving anddriven shafts extending into said casing, a plurality of rotors, meansrotatably mounting said rotors on said driven shaft with the axis ofrotation of said rotors being parallel to, and spaced radially from, theaxis of rotation of said driven shaft, means operative to rotate saidrotors in response to the rotation of said driving shaft relative tosaid driven shaft, a radial impeller on said driving shaft operative, inresponse to rotation of the latter, to axially receive fluid within saidcasing and to discharge the fluid radially outward within the casing,guide means within the casing receiving fluid from said impeller anddirecting streams of the fluid radially inward past said rotors towardthe aligned axis of said shafts so that, when said driving shaft rotatesrelative to said driven shaft to cause rotation of said rotors, thestreams of fluid flowing past the rotated rotors produce forces, byreason of the Magnus effect, which tend to rotate said driven shaft withsaid driving shaft, additional guide means within said casing acting onthe streams of fluid after the latter have passed said rotors anddirecting the fluid axially back to said impeller, said additional guidemeans including second rotors, means mounting said second rotors withinsaid casing for rotation about axes which are fixed relative to thelatter and which are parallel to the axis of said shafts and locatedradially inward with respective to the path followed by the firstmentioned rotors in rotating with said driven shaft, and means rotatingsaid second rotors in the direction counter to the rotation of saidfirst rotors in response to rotation of said driving shaft, thereby toreturn the streams of fluid back to radial paths after the streams havepassed said first rotors.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,608,884 Orner Sept. 2, 1952

